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A Conservative(!) Rationale for Defunding Police

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This is something I put together quickly for the benefit of conservative family and friends on FB; I venture to share it here in the hope that, despite my lack of expertise and the distinct possibility of  unintentional errors herein, some might find it  of use. 


Some people (mostly conservatives) are up in arms (pardon the pun) at the thought of defunding police forces. As a longtime student of history I have a few thoughts on that.

The first modern police department was founded in London in 1829; for many decades prior to that there had been local (neighborhood) watches and constables, but they were often disabled or elderly men who were made watchmen or constables partly so they did not starve (as there was no public provision for seniors, the poor, or the disabled until the 20th century, except, oddly enough, in the German Empire after 1883).

As can easily be imagined, this was a wildly inefficient method of law enforcement for a rapidly growing metropolis, but despite what would seem to be such an obvious need there was massive resistance from the public, due to the ancient British aversion to standing armies—an aversion shared by our own ancestors in Colonial America and the early United States, as clearly expressed by James Madison and others. So Sir Robert Peel, the cabinet official (and later Prime Minister) who created London's Metropolitan Police was *very* careful not to disrespect tradition and public opinion: he gave "bobbies" (nicknamed for him) blue uniforms rather than the red coats worn by the British Army, and they were at first armed only with truncheons (batons) and noisemaking rattles (to raise an alarm and summon help).


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